William x



(No Model.)

w. STEVENS, APPARATUS FOR AGING WHIs Y'.

' Patented e 13,1883.

, Ma a nl PETERS, Pmmh n mr. warmm n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

WILLIAM STEVENS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

APPARATUS FOR AGING WHISKY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,346, dated February 13, 1883.

Application filed September 5,1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM X. STEVEN'S, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in 'the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Aging Whisky; and I do hereby declare the-following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to'which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of whiskyaging devices which operate on the plan of agitating the whisky while stored in barrels, for the purpose of giving tothe whisky that color and taste known as mellow, peculiar to old whisky, which exhilarates without crazing the drinker. this in various ways-such as by rocking the barrels to and fro out of level, and'by swing.v

ing them, like a pendulum, below the center of oscillation. To this class of devices there is the objection that they require a great deal of power to operate them.

My invention has for its object to overcome this objection by balancing pairs of racks supporting barrels of whisky, and to provide means whereby a large number of barrels of whisky may be kept in agitation by a single device, or bya duplication thereot',.and whereby the same may be accomplished with little expenditure of power, and with comparatively little outlay in fitting up a whisky store-house for this purpose.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming barrel-racks, hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of a whisky store-house, show- Fig. 2 is an end elevation," part in section, of a portion of the barrel-- ing my invention.

racks. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Figs. 4 and 5 are geometrical figures to illustrate the principle on which my invention opcrates, and Fig. 6 is a'moditied form thereof.

A represents the floor of a passage'along the side of the whiskyracks.

B B are the permanent posts commonlyused for supporting the rack-timbers O O, which timbers are-usually bolted firmly to said posts. These timbers support the whisky in barrels,

Others have attemptetbto do which are rolled onto them at their ends be tween the posts B. In my invention the two timbers O O and G O of respective tiers are secured upon cross-bars E E at a little distance from the post-s--say about two inches therefrom at each side'a cross-bar, E, being placed at each pair of posts B,the two timbers U and the cross-bars E, which join them,forming what I term a rack! a a are levers, preferably of malleable iron, centrally pivoted to oscillate on strong bolts h, which bolts are firmly fixed in the posts B. The strain of these bolts may be distributed over more surface of the post by means of an iron plate, G, recessed into the post. end of the levers a is provided with a cylindrical cross-pin, El, on which. friction-plates b rest. These plates are secured to the crossbars E E at the under side of each end 9f the bars, and are slotted vertically to admit the levers a, each of which has a tang projecting above its upper cross-pin to engage said slot and prevent the plate being dislodged from the pin. This plate is also cross-grooved to form a hearing for said pin.

The timbers G are usually long enough to hold eighteen harrels--they may be longer or shorter-and the posts B,hangers a, and crossbars E occur as often in the length of these quire.

Y The racks may be supported to swing lengthwise by pivoting the levers a on the inner faces of the posts, as shown in Fig. 6; but I prefer to hang them, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, to swing crosswise with the racks and length-. wise with the barrels thereon, because the whisky is more agitated by abutting against the ends of the barrels than by rolling in the barrels the other way. If the levers be given pins h, the rack E U will rise just as much as the rack E 0' falls at each oscillation, and the act of lowering one rack raises its mate at the same time, thus forming a perfect balance,

racks supported according to myinvention one rack is supported above its center of oscillabelow its center of oscillation. The one will descend in oscillating either way from a vertical line passing through its center of support,

Each

timbers as safe support to the barrels may re-' an oscillating motion upon their supporting the weights being equal. In each pair of mated tion, and the other rack is supported or hung and the other will ascend in swinging either way from its vertical center line, and the two are so connected as to cause one to descend when the other ascends.

Fig. 5 illustrates the principle of operation of the device in the form which I preferthat is, supporting two mated racks 011 double levers hung each on one center. Equal weights to s at opposite ends of a diameter of a circle will balance each other on the center of the circle in whatever position the diameter be turned.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification in which two centers of oscillation are used. By connecting the two elbow-levers to w s s at 'w s the same result will be produced as though the two levers were hung on one center. By making a connection through tangent 3 the same result will be produced, except that the weights will move in opposite relation to each other. On the same principle unequal weights may be balanced by making their respective levers with radii of inverse proportion to the weights.

Experience shows that a crosswise oscillation of the racks of one-half or three-quarters of an inch is enough to keep the whisky in the barrels thereon in violent agitation. To accomplish this any kind of power and any usual means of communicating reciprocating motion may be used to oscillate the racks. I have shown a means of applying hand-power, with which one man can keep a large number of barrels of whisky in agitation. For this purpose e'is an elbow-lever with a long handle, d, pivoted on a bolt, f, which passes through post B. The L end of the level-c is pivoted atg to the lever a, the pivot being a stud projecting from the lever. The hole in lever c to receive said stud is slightly elongated vertically to accommodate the difference in the arcs of radiifg and h g, every point being steadied to avoid friction, in order that no power may be wasted. The operator will soon learn to accommodate his stroke of the lever to the natural vibration or slopping ot' the whisky in the barrels by feeling its reaction on the lever, and by applying a little power at the right time a great quantity of whisky may be kept in agitation.

Links may connect one rack with another on the same level or tier, and motion may be communicated across passages and around corners by usual appliances for such purposes. The racks, being balanced in pairs, will all balance as a body. In filling the racks with barrels it is best to note the number of gallons in each barrel and put an equal number of gallons on mated racks as nearly as possible. If any considerable difi'erence is found to exist, stones or other weights may be added to the lighter rack to perfect the balance.

As whisky increases rapidly in value with age, and as it is a proven fact that agitation of whisky in closed barrels produces the same result in a very much shorter time, and as my invention is adapted to do it at little cost, its value is apparent.

I am aware that devices have been patented for oscillating tiers of barrels of whisky, each tier being hung below its center of oscillation, that others have seesawed the racks of barrels on-centers nearly under the center of the barrels, and that two or more tiers of barrels have been connected by diagonal braces, so as to tip one tier of barrels to the left by the same act that tips another tier to the right, with the apparent object of balancing one tier by the other; but this method has no effect to balance the two tiers, for when one tier of barrels tips, the whisky runs to the lower end, and the same action tipping the other tier causes its whisky also to run to the tipped end. So both weights are down, and instead of balancing each other they require twice as much force to level them or tip them over the other way as either tier would require alone. No other device, to my knowledge, supports two racks carrying barrels of whisky in a manner to balance them so that the descent of the one causes the rise of the other.

What I claim as my invention, and wish'to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with two barrel-racks, of supports pivoted on fixed centers, and connections and means for moving the racks, substantially as described, whereby one rack is moved upward as the other is moved downward, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with two barrel-racks, of levers pivoted to fixed supports and connected to said racks, as set forth, and means for moving the racks, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM X. STEVENS.

Witnesses SoLoN (J. KEMON, J. WM. MISTER.

ICO 

